Who better to discuss happiness with than Kyle Kramer of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville. Kyle has served as CEO since 2014 and hosts its podcast on NPR. The Center, he says, offers programs and courses on mindfulness meditation, social justice, and environmental issues. It also hosts an ongoing Happiness Discussion group on the 2nd Thursday of each month.
How would you define happiness?
Happiness is usually connected to outer circumstances. On the other hand, joy doesn’t depend on life meeting external standards and circumstances…on everything going right. Joy comes with self-acceptance and freedom that rests in the knowledge that you don’t have to have it all together. That you are enough.
Where are you in life right now?
I love midlife. I have been married 20 plus years; there is a depth and maturity to my marriage. We have three teenage children. My health has held up well. I have some wisdom and perspective, good work to do, people I love, and ways to grow and contribute. I have been well mentored and given great opportunities and excited that I can give back.
What would you like someone to ask you?
‘How can I bring my best self to the world, my work, and the people I love?’ Not because I have answers, but because being asked would be the beginning of a beautiful conversation and how we could work it out together.
Which of your five senses do you feel you have neglected?
My sense of hearing. I’m not making or listening to as much music as I want to. I have a lot of silence in my life, but I also have a lot of auditory input. I’m thinking that more and more silence might be preferable.
How do you keep your spirits up?
Regular contemplative practice and exercise. I love the connection to my family and friends. I’m doing work that I believe in and that is focused and sustainable. It would be easy to be frazzled in my job and to overwork. I have to intentionally carve out times for focused work.
How do you sustain that practice?
Time blocking. Setting aside a time for focused work that is driven by clear values and priorities. The modern workplace tends to be rife with distraction. I get a lot more done by fixing an amount of hours that I’m willing to devote and make sure those hours are spent giving the best I can. Time that is free of distraction, such as keeping Meeting Free Fridays.
What are you resisting right now?
The need to be perfect and above reproach. To have everyone think well of me all the time.
Skill you would like to develop?
I would like to enhance my skill of listening well to others. Of listening to the natural world — the more-than-human world. Of listening to my own body and intuition.
Pet peeve?
We as individuals and collectively could do so much more to make the world better. We prefer to fight each other or distract ourselves even though living more kindly toward this world would be infinitely more satisfying. It is necessary and not that hard, if we are willing.
Can’t quite get the knack of…
Not sticking my foot in my mouth, especially with my family.
How is the work you’re doing important to you?
In this role, my personal values coincide with my professional competence. I am thrilled to work for an organization that shares my values of contemplative practice, commitment to social change, and environmental care.
By Lucy M. Pritchett | Illustration by Dan Kisner
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